82 WATER-LILIES 



it will also pay to raise plants from the seed 

 of one-year-old hybrids, since some of the 

 most experienced growers claim that it is in 

 the second generation that some of the best 

 results appear. 



The genealogy of but few of the hybrids 

 now in cultivation can be indicated with any 

 degree of certainty. This is especially the 

 case where the records were in the possession 

 of a single individual who, for trade-reasons, 

 was unwilling to communicate his knowledge. 

 At the same time identical results have been 

 produced at different times and in different 

 countries, and natural hybrids are of common 

 occurrence where closely related species are 

 growing together. 



It was about the middle of the nineteenth 

 century that the first attempts at hybridisa- 

 tion were made. The first reputed hybrid, 

 N. Devoniensis, was exhibited in England 

 and was claimed to be the result of a cross 

 between AT. rubra and N. Lotus. It is 

 doubtful, however, whether a cross actually 

 took place and now it is generally believed 



